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JOHN M. BROOKE, OF THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES.

DETACHING-HOOK FOR NAUTICAL USE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,408, dated May 28, 1861,4

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M.'BRooKE, a lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, have invented a new and Improved Form of Hook for Tackles and Pendants; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, of which- Figure 1 represents the hook with weight suspended as in hoisting or lowering, and Fig. 2 represents the hook at the instant of reversal, and detachment of the suspended weight.

The nature of my invention consists in so forming the eye of the hook as to permit the partial or entire reversal of the hook by turning it in the ring of the tackle or pendant B, which supports it, thus detaching any suspended or attached weight without overhauling or slackening the tackle or pendant, and to eect this reversal more readily by hand I prolong the back of the eye into a handle C.

To guard against accidental reversal lof the hook I apply, when necessary, a clamp D, or its equivalent, turning on the pin E and resting, when down, between the ring B and the slings or ring F, by which the weight is suspended from the hook. See Fig. l. This clainp when down prevents the ring B from traversing the eye A,` and the slings of the suspended weight from' unhooking. The

' used therewith.

clamp may be jointed, at its bend G, to per- Init straightening out when thrown back;

or it may have its axis at the point H ot the eye and hook back over the eye and ring, in which case it would be quite short.

This form of hook in addition to its general applicability, where labor and time are employed in overhauling tackles &c. tol un hook, is also applicable in hoisting and lowering boats from vessels under way, when it not unfrequently happens that the tackles, if tted in the usual manner, can not be unhooked and the boaty is swamped. When used with heavy weights, such as anchors, the friction of the eye may be reduced by a roller in the ring or its equivalent which connects the hook with the block or pendant,

and the handle C may be dispensed with-` the reversal being eiected by a tripping line attached to the back of the hook--the anchor may then be let go, if required, from the cat` hook by holding on to the tripping line and slackening the cat-fall.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is--` The extension of the eye of the hook along the back of the hook through an arc of about ninety degrees, the curve of the upper part of the eye being nearly concentric with the inner curve of the lower part or bend of the hook, also the guard herein described and JOHN M. BROOKE. Attest:

J oHN S. HOLLINGSHEED, H. BETTENGE. 

